Integrated Marketing Discussions
DQ2) Answer: Integrated Marketing is an approach to creating a integrated and faultless experience for consumers to interact with the brand/enterprise; it attempts to join all aspects of marketing communication such as advertising, sales promotion, public relations, direct marketing, and Personal selling, through their respective mix of tactics, methods, channels, media, and activities, so that all work together as a combined force. It is a process designed to ensure that all messaging and communications strategies are consistent across all channels and are centered on the customer. Integrated marketing communication relates to the development of an optimal promotional mix in the following ways:Advertising is widely used by companies to reach out to geographically distributed consumers in a large scale. It could be through TV ads, paper and print ads, billboards, radio announcements etc. to reach out to a mass audience. While such a promotional tool is quick and seen as legitimate by the consumers, it is very expensive and also happens to be a one-way communication with potential customer.Personal Selling is very effective in building customer relations and helping the consumer move from awareness and knowledge stage to conviction and action. Marketing personnel need to use their people skills and learn to listen to the audience so that the consumer’s requirements are addressed. They get immediate feedback and increase sales potential.
Sales Promotion stimulates market demand, product availability and coordinates public selling, advertising and public relations. Through discount coupons, contests, daily deals and other offers, we can promote the product sales and create short-term marketing effects.Public Relations use company news, promotional events, sponsorship programs etc. along with other promotion tools to reach out to prospective customers. Such a campaign is very cost-effective and economical while reaching out to a larger audience.Direct Marketing is a highly personalized communication tool that is addressed to a specific person through emails, telephone or mobile messages, online media etc. It also allows for customer interaction and is mostly used as a targeted marketing approach.Integrated Marketing Communications (IMC) helps to integrate the various channels to deliver a uniform and compelling message about the brand to the target audience. It brings together all the company’s messages under one campaign to promote a single, clear and consistent positioning statement.Reference: Lake. L, (November 13, 2017), Integrated marketing communication retrieved from